Autistic Licence

Leo is planning a move to Suffolk, England. This conversation took place when we visited the area as part of his decision making process.

We speak about a delightful and symbolic experience we had while we were there.

We then explore the value of "story" within therapy, the significance of re-contextualisation, and even the potential of deeper memory reconsolidation and healing processes.

Our next discussion traverses echolalia, accents and imperial powers ... moving into culture, heritage, history and gender differences. We then segueway into disturbing political developments affecting our neurokin in the US.

Quite a trip! Thank you so much for your ongoing company with us as we chat, connect and explore. We always value your comments and feedback on [email protected] 

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Welcome to the second half of our conversation with Meaghan Ray.

This one begins with us speaking about the interplay between autism and ADHD, particularly in terms of executive functioning. 

Meaghan Ray shares some specific areas of executive functioning which pose challenges for them in relation to parenting. Siana and Meaghan Ray discuss some of their experiences as parents, noting the widespread lack of support for autistic parents caring for autistic children (regardless of whether either parent or child are identified as autistic).  We also talk about navigating different sensory profiles with the family.

Finally, Meaghan Ray delights us with their chainmaille and through this illustrates their metaphorical understanding of the melding and integration of the strands of their identity.  Video in the shownotes!

Thank-you for joining us for this episode and please do get in touch if you have any comments or feedback you would like to share  - [email protected] 💛🧡

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CHAINMAILLE VIDEO CLIP

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Meaghan Ray's chest binding support page

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We're joined for this episode by Meaghan Ray from Edmonton in Canada.

Meaghan Ray speaks about their process of coming to know their autistic self. They share the value within this of real time processing with a friend, particularly as it relates to the "doing" of being autistic in daily adult life.

Meaghan Ray shares some unique aspects of their childhood which led to the development of self awareness and self efficacy from a young age. They reflect on having found their place within the queer community as a non binary person and how the learning from this has mapped onto their autistic journey also.

We speak about masking and in particular about the repression of stimming as a specific area Meaghan Ray has been working on unlearning as an adult.

Meaghan Ray also shares some parenting wisdom with us and we return to the topic of stimming, pivoting into a wider conversation about autistic enjoyment and immersion. 💛🧡

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Meaghan Ray's chest binding support page

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We are delighted to share with you our guest conversation with Nikita. Nikita is a trainee clinical psychologist with a special interest in neuropsychology.  

Together we have a fascinating discussion about adult diagnosis and how Nikita has woven this into her self-understanding and relationships. She contrasts how this has been in her personal and in her professional life. 

We also speak about dyscalculia and burnout. Oh, and joy and the future. 💛🧡

If you are interested in joining a group, book a chat with us:

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Nikita's book - An Autistic Anthology: Neuro-Narratives of Mental Health Professionals

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Join us for another wonderful guest conversation, this time with Dawn.

Dawn generously shares with us about her experiences and challenges in relation to work, mental health and being different to others.  

We talk about the generational grief and loss associated with late diagnosis. We speak about common expectations around socialising, learning and communication which can zap our energy and lead to struggle. We go on to envision some aspects of autistic community, representation and culture.

We have deliberately not edited out the beginning and ending of our recording in case anyone is considering joining us for a conversation as this might help demystify the process. 

As ever, we welcome your comments and feedback at [email protected]

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There's a bit of silliness at the beginning of this episode. We debated cutting it out, maybe due to the vestiges of internalised ableism but we decided to keep it in the interests of authenticity.

We move from "here and now" chat into speaking about tears and other emotional expressions such as anger, fear, joy and sadness. We also reflect on the possibility of heightened emotional affect related to times of seasonal transition.

We invite further conversation and connection about the possibility of forming groups for autistic people. If you would like to discuss this or if you have any other comments or feedback to share we'd love to hear from you - [email protected] 💛🧡

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Circles with Siana

Disability Empowerment Now podcast

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In this episode we expand on our discussion about grief. Leo reflects on the loss of Woody, three months on. We then move into exploring other feelings such as disappointment and pride. We speak about the conditional meanings of these feelings in relation to other people.

We contrast this with the idea of unconditional love and acceptance and wonder about how this might feel and the significance of it, particularly in light of being autistic.

Molly has been at the vet's and joins us for the last 10 minutes. 🐕

We welcome your comments and feedback as always; get in touch at [email protected] 💛🧡

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LINKS

Book: On Being An Autistic Therapist

Nici Harrison - The Grief Space

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This episode was recorded in December and the "previous" episode we mention at the beginning was "Furry Friends & Existentialism".

We speak about our experiences of bereavement and grief. We talk about navigating the end of life and expand this to speak about other endings, planned and otherwise.  

Leo shares some treasured memories of his unique connection with Woody. We wonder about specific aspects of grief from (our) Autistic perspectives, bringing in differences in attunement, attachment and communication.

Your comments and feedback are always most welcome.

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This is a short chat we had following our guest conversation with Elisabeth.

In it we further develop our thoughts and reflections about self compassion. We also contemplate our identities within the queer community, recognising that we have much more personal "work" to do in this area. 

Obviously it's vulnerable to put something like this out into the world ... however we do so for two reasons. Firstly, we want to honour how inspirational we found our conversation with Elisabeth and secondly, we wonder whether other people might be thinking in similar ways and feel less alone by hearing us.

Your comments and feedback are always most welcome. 💛🧡 

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We have a treat for you today - our guest conversation with Elisabeth. 💛🧡

Elisabeth shares her story generously and insightfully. We speak about late diagnosis and the idea of a second adolescence. We contrast medicalised perspectives with the neurodiversity paradigm, for example in navigating group contexts.   

We explore the intersectionality of queer and neurodivergent communities. We also discuss "coming out" and parallels between the neurodiversity movement and the LGBTQIA+ movement in the 80s and 90s. We speak of difference, stigma and making sense of our lived experiences in an ever changing landscape.

We end with discussing the significance of justice for us, on a micro and a macro scale.

We loved engaging with Elisabeth and were so intrigued that we continued the conversation after our call ended (to be released soon!)

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LINKS

Book: Very Bad People, Patrick Alley

Global Witness

Autistic Licence - Autscape episode

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